Rathika Covered Up

The British newspaper the Daily Mail recently ran an article about Rathika Sitsabaiesan, the first Canadian Tamil member of Parliament, who – according to the paper – is at the centre of a Photoshopping controversy, after a photo of her was retouched to cover-up her cleavage!

Contrarian, a political blog, spotted the difference between two images of Rathika that are available on the Internet (View image 2 in the gallery above). It revealed an image with her cleavage Photoshopped out of the picture. According to the Daily Mail, Canada’s conservatives felt the original photo was inappropriate for Parliament. Critics disagree saying the alteration was anti-feminist, and the majority of DM reader comments suggested disapproval of the edit as well. It’s not known who actually authorised the edit.

A standard-bearer for young women in a male-dominated political culture, Rathika is currently the youngest member of Parliament from the Greater Toronto area, representing Scarborough-Rouge River for the New Democratic Party. Born in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, the Sitsabaesan family fled to Canada when Rathika was five years old. A video clip of her addressing the House Of Commons for the first time since her election win in 2011, speaking in English, French & Tamil went viral. Viewers had mixed reviews as some felt it was a historic moment for the Tamil community, whilst others in the community felt it wasn’t appropriate speaking Tamil in Parliament. Have a look below: